The study of religious or heroic legends and tales. One constant rule of mythology is that whatever happens amongst the gods or other mythical beings was in one sense or another a reflection of events on earth. Recorded myths and legends, perhaps preserved in literature or folklore, have an immediate interest to archaeology in trying to unravel the nature and meaning of ancient events and traditions.

In welcome contrast to many of the discussion point springboards here, this is a lengthy, detailed and admirably researched insight into the current climate of denial in astrophysics and much else as well.

This is not a book about science.It is a book about political science ideas.

It starts out well enough.

“It seems that the impact had an energy of 30 to 40 megatons, the combined force of a few dozen ordinary hydrogen bombs. “

That is all?Just a few dozen H bombs?

Then

“As I have pulled on the many threads that lead to and away from these matters, what I see repeatedly is a small group of people on the planet who rule over the masses of people, who do not have humanity's best interests at heart - another staggering understatement, but I'm on a roll so why stop now? What I see is the constant - and mostly successful - efforts of this small group driving to enforce totalitarianism in one guise or another - from politics to religion to all fields of science - on the entire world. And again and again they utilize disasters as a means to consolidate their power. Read Naomi Klein's book The Shock Doctrine to get a good grip on exactly how this works now, and how it has always worked. There is nothing new under the sun! “

That is the turn from science to political science.

“As it happens, after pulling on so many threads relating to the topic, it occurs to me that comets may, indeed, have a great deal to do with the major social problem on our planet today: psychopaths. “

Here we go…

“You see, evolutionarily speaking, psychopaths should not exist. Throughout history it can be seen that human beings have needed to co-operate and care about one another in order to survive and produce a new generation that will carry on the processes of society. Most human dynamics are based on people trying to work out their problems and come to resolutions agreeable to the greatest number or, at the very least, in the interactions between two people. The issue of trust is paramount. Someone who betrays your trust is someone you cannot live or work with. Therefore, psychopaths, who are untrustworthy should have long ago become extinct. But that isn't the way things are. It appears, in fact, as if psychopathy has increased!”

Wow!Then comes the Mother Goddess, Adam and Eve, and, and, and…

Finally.

“Stay tuned, our next stop is the end of the Last Ice Age when the Cosmic Serpent appeared on the scene and the processes that have led to our involvement in the Sixth Extinction got underway. “

uniface, I was quite enjoying your article although, all the while reading it, hovering at the back of my mind, like the spectre at the feast, was a nagging doubt about was what exactly your agenda for posting it. But then, eureka! All was revealed when I got this to this bit:

As far as I can tell, Hannah Arendt did not consider the problems of pathology and how it operates in society as a corrupting element, nor did she consider the factor that Judaism and its offspring, Christianity and Islam, could be the carriers of the disease of totalitarianism.

So I have left the following comment:

I'm not a Christian or a Jew, but do you not understand how this statement either betrays an incredible ignorance of human history or more sinisterly, an agenda?

Do you really believe that totalitarianism begins and ends with Hebraic derived religions? What about the Sumerians, who used a slave culture to cater for their needs? What about the Babylonians, who wiped out the Sumerians? What about the Akkadians, the Persians, the Hittities, the Greeks ... I could go on ... all of these were racial groupings that had a psychopathic belief system that they had a divine right to conquer others, and bring them under their jackboot.

Fast forward to today .. .and what about the Far Eastern races? Do you not think the Chinese regime is a totalitarian one? And what about Burma, North Korea and Tibet? Whole nations brought to heel under an autocratic rulership.

I probably haven't included everyone, but this is just a sample to show you that if you're going to blame the Jews, Christians and Moslems, then you're no better than those you criticise for not facing reality and instead preferring to live on fairy stories and use others as scapegoats when reality threatens to intervene.

Good points, Ish. Religion should be seen more as a "hanger-on" in the equation than a driving force. As Thomas Jefferson ( you know...one of those pesky rebels ) said:

In every country and in every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot, abetting his abuses in return for protection to his own.

Something is wrong here. War, disease, death, destruction, hunger, filth, poverty, torture, crime, corruption, and the Ice Capades. Something is definitely wrong. This is not good work. If this is the best God can do, I am not impressed.

Yep .... religion is just the means to instil the fear into you. Once they've got you frightened, they can control you.

What I object so much to, in the extract I pulled out, is the notion of psychopathy being a sickness that infects the DNA of certain races of people. This is not much different to the views that Hitler propounded ... and it's those kinds of views that instil into us fear and hatred of other races and thus lead to wars.

I have to go look for it but I recall reading, I think in Peter Heather's Fall of the Roman Empire how the church got around this "love-thy-enemy" shit that they found themselves saddled with. My recollection is that in Latin there are different words for different "enemies" so....an early example of "spin."

I'll look for it today.

Something is wrong here. War, disease, death, destruction, hunger, filth, poverty, torture, crime, corruption, and the Ice Capades. Something is definitely wrong. This is not good work. If this is the best God can do, I am not impressed.

I haven't found the exact comment yet but Latin uses the words "Hostes Hostium" meaning "the enemy" and "inimicus" meaning a "personal enemy."

Guess which one you have to "forgive" and which one you have to kill? In jesus' name, of course!

Something is wrong here. War, disease, death, destruction, hunger, filth, poverty, torture, crime, corruption, and the Ice Capades. Something is definitely wrong. This is not good work. If this is the best God can do, I am not impressed.

uniface wrote:This has been a display of the same mentality that looks to see if there are naughty words in dictionaries and then complains about it if there are.

Wrong, uniface. It's a display of multi-processing, which is something us females of the species are quite good at. I'm quite capable of having several trains of thought going on at the same time, while I'm reading something. The memory of your Nazi-like agenda, for which I threw you off my forum, was just one of them. It is not just a few 'naughty words' either ... it is the whole point of the article.

You people want to use your own squinty notions of ideological purity to limit what other people can consider, and what they must conclude from it if they do.

There are certain ideas and notions that always end up causing pain, suffering and strife. The problem lies in the idea, and not so much in the people who have the ideas, and very definitely not the race that they are part of. This is what you don't understand.

Who made you (plural) the Brain Police ?

Playground taunts are not really worthy of you, uniface .... were you struggling for the bon mot at the end there?

You got it. The use of world view shattering facts to introduce stupidity. It runs something like -

"See, "they" were wrong about this, so "they" are wrong about this as well. "They" are using you.It ALL makes sense, if only you don't believe "them".There is a good work you can do about this to give meaning to your life.I have special knowledge/skills and can help you."

Laura wants us all to believe Bush Jr. and the NWO attacked the World Trade Center.

I am tired, have a headache, and just want to go back to sleep.

By the way, see my post on my trip to the Natchez powwow.And signed copies of "Man and Impact in the Americas" are still available half off for you here, if you PM me. Those of you who have copies know it makes a great gift as well. If you know any rigid archaeologists, it is a wonderful way of irritating them.

Usually people believe what they want to believe until reality intrudes.